Mcleod Usa Inc

McLeodUSA Inc., a local telephone and Internet service company backed by buyout firm Forstmann Little & Co., filed a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that wipes out $3.3 billion in debt and gives Forstmann control. Forstmann Little will invest an additional $175 million in the firm and get a 58% stake. The firm and its senior partner, Theodore Forstmann, have sunk more than $2 billion in McLeodUSA and in money-losing rival XO Communications Inc.

McLeodUSA Inc., a local telephone and Internet service company backed by buyout firm Forstmann Little & Co., filed a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that wipes out $3.3 billion in debt and gives Forstmann control. Forstmann Little will invest an additional $175 million in the firm and get a 58% stake. The firm and its senior partner, Theodore Forstmann, have sunk more than $2 billion in McLeodUSA and in money-losing rival XO Communications Inc.

Regional phone company McLeodUSA Inc. agreed to buy Splitrock Services Inc. for nearly $2 billion in stock and debt to provide more Internet and data services and compete against SBC Communications Inc. The purchase will give McLeod a network that reaches 800 cities in all 50 states, allowing the company to offer nationwide data services for the first time. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company will exchange 0.5347 share for each Splitrock share and assume about $150 million in debt.

Regional phone company McLeodUSA Inc. agreed to buy Splitrock Services Inc. for nearly $2 billion in stock and debt to provide more Internet and data services and compete against SBC Communications Inc. The purchase will give McLeod a network that reaches 800 cities in all 50 states, allowing the company to offer nationwide data services for the first time. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company will exchange 0.5347 share for each Splitrock share and assume about $150 million in debt.

Verizon Communications Inc. will eliminate the equivalent of 10,000 jobs this year to lower costs as sales growth slows. The reductions add to the equivalent of 29,000 jobs cut last year, Co-Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said Monday at an investor conference in Orlando, Fla. Verizon ended 2001 with 247,000 employees, down 16,000 from the previous year. That doesn't include "equivalent" head count, which the company said includes overtime and contractors.

Five telecom industry executives, including Los Angeles sports mogul Philip F. Anschutz and former WorldCom Inc. chief Bernard J. Ebbers, were sued Monday by New York state on charges that they steered business to a big Wall Street brokerage in exchange for hot stock offerings. The civil suit by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer alleges that the men directed corporate finance work for their firms to Salomon Smith Barney, the brokerage arm of Citigroup Inc.